VLVL2 (2): Prairie and Zoyd

[barbara100 at jps.net]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Tim Strzechowski" dedalus204 at comcast.net

>I would be curious to know how some of the "Moms" on the list
>(Barbara? Elaine? etc.?) interpret the relationship between Zoyd
> and Prairie from a mother-daughter standpoint.

It's rilly how it is for me. I don't suppose Prairie's missing mother has
much to do with the way she and Zoyd interact, however. I think it's more a
parenting style. Zoyd is tolerant, and he allows Prairie full expression.
Some parents don't. Imagine Prairie as Brock's daughter. The dynamic would
be entirely different.

I'm a (half-time) single mom to a budding teenage girl, and we switch off
with these maturity roles often. She has a judgmental Persian father, and
she likes to look at me through his point of view sometimes, and criticize
me for everything from the men I date to the "weird" stuff I write on the
Internet to the willpower I "suck at" when I cheat on our diet. She rides me
like Prairie rides Zoyd. But she loves me, and it shows, and her friends
think I'm cool, so I let her say what she wants.
She has an entirely different relationship with her father. His style of
parenting is all about respecting the roles of tradition, so for him she's a
princess who only thinks the world of him. Of course it's just a put-on for
his benefit; come Monday I hear all about what a jerk he is.




To: "Pynchon-L" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Cc: "Tim Strzechowski" <dedalus204 at comcast.net>
Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2003 11:26 AM
Subject: VLVL2 (2): Prairie and Zoyd


One thing about Chapter Two of Vineland that is particularly interesting is
the portrayal of Zoyd's relationship with his daughter, Prairie.  In the
opening sentence, we learn that although Zoyd has made it home in time to
see his window jump on TV, he lets Prairie finish watching The Clara Bow
Story.  She is his natural daughter, yet the rapport between the two permits
her to call him by his first name (something which I'd always thought was
more of a Southernism -- the way Scout and Jem Finch call their father
"Atticus" comes immediately to mind), and the dialogue between Zoyd and
Prairie on p. 14 seems almost a comfortable mother-daughter relationship
(discussing the dress and dating).

One of the more subtle narrative elements that Pynchon achieves in this
chapter is his ability to juggle the maturity/immaturity levels of father
and daughter throughout this chapter.  Zoyd laments the state of household
finances, noting in typical parental fashion that "All's I need is the
money, Trooper, I can't even keep enough groceries in this place" (15), yet
later discusses Isaiah Two-Four with Prairie and "ate a Chee-to he'd been
planning to throw" (17).  Meanwhile, after snacking and watching the window
jump footage (and subsequent panal discussion), Prairie playfully evaluates
his jump as one might rate an Olympic dive, and the two launch into a
discussion of money and household finances that leads to Prairie stating the
following:

"What am I supposed to do?  Isn't me that's leaving all these cakes and pies
and stuff layin' around, candy bars in the freezer, Nestle's Quik instead of
sugar, eeoo!  What chance have I got?" (15)

A brilliant piece of dialogue this is, because it reveals much about
Prairie: her frustration at perhaps being the female of the house, which
accounts for her seemingly scolding-mother tone; her two questions, which
bookend this snippet of dialogue, which harken to the greater needs that
she, as a child, must have addressed by a parent; and the exclamation of
"eeoo!" which reminds us that, despite the maturity she must exhibit in
having to live with this ex-hippie, Prairie is still just a kid.

I would be curious to know how some of the "Moms" on the list (Barbara?
Elaine? etc.?) interpret the relationship between Zoyd and Prairie from a
mother-daughter standpoint.

Are there other ways in which Pynchon juggles the maturity/immaturity of
both Zoyd and Prairie in this chapter?

Why is it significant that we, as readers, view both characters in light of
their mature and immature qualities?  Is this important to our understanding
of the novel as a whole?

Back in Chapter One, did Zoyd exhibit both qualities?  How?


For those of us reading Pale Fire:

Does Nabokov develop a similar dichotomy with either Kinbote or Shade.  Not
necessarily in terms of maturity/immaturity, but can one build a case for
either/both characters embodying qualities of (for example) sanity/madness?
love/hate?

I seem to recall noting the ways in which Shade is portrayed both as a
scholarly member of the ivory tower *and* as a liquor-sneaking,
blonde-chick-in-the-leotards appreciating sort of fella.  Does this
dichotomy qualify?  Can it be further developed?

Respectfully,

Tim